Dell: SMB, School PCs Not Doomed By Tablets

Dell reveals a new Latitude laptop, sans touchscreen, for small businesses and schools. What does the future hold for PCs in these environments?

Tablets Rock On: Education Tech Through The Ages

(click image for larger view and for slideshow)

If the traditional PC is dying, Dell must have the missed the memo.

Sure, Dell's business has expanded and evolved well beyond PCs, thanks in part to acquisitions and other moves. And it certainly has its stake in the so-called post-PC era, with tablets and other touchscreen devices already in the market and more to come.

That hasn't meant turning its back on the PCs that helped make Dell a mainstay in corporate offices and other organizations. The company continues to roll out new models, such as the Latitude 3330 laptop it announced on Tuesday, gloomy PC sales reports be darned. You'll never believe this, but there might be room for both PCs and tablets -- and other touch-oriented devices -- in business and educational environments.

"We still see significant demand for traditional notebooks," said Dell product marketing director Brett McAnally in an interview. "Obviously, we see demand for tablets as well."

The Latitude 3330 is intended primarily for use in schools, with crossover into small businesses. That's in part because of a starting price tag as low as $419 (running Ubuntu) or $519 (running Windows 7), a number that cash-strapped school administrators and business owners can stomach more easily than, say, a $1,200 ultrabook. That's all the more true for schools upgrading a classroom's worth or more of PCs at the same time.

There's another factor here, too. Schools, like most businesses, are focused on work rather than play. Among the Latitude 3330's notable features is one that isn't included: a touchscreen, although the Latitude 3330 does support Windows 8.

McAnally noted a couple of reasons offices and schools aren't likely to stop buying traditional PCs any time soon. "One is just the need for high productivity," he said, adding that some tasks or applications, such as building PowerPoint presentations, aren't optimal on a touchscreen today, especially small ones. He offered an education-specific example: Standardized testing.

"The smaller screen-type devices tend to be more of a challenge for some of the standardized testing that's out there today," McAnally said. Screens that require too much scrolling or movement to complete might put students at a disadvantage, for instance. "There's a high preference, especially among the younger kids, to have that large screen size."

Windows 7 is another factor. "We're seeing continued demand for Windows 7 as a lot of businesses, small businesses, and even education accounts are still just planning or just beginning a Windows 7 migration," McAnally said.

McAnally's far from a touch naysayer. On the contrary, he's an optimist and noted that Dell has offered touch on commercial hardware for years, and has recently been building out a more robust consumer lineup. Among other areas where McAnally sees a strong current or future match with touchscreens: health, touch-centric service businesses, and, yes, schools.

"Windows 8 is clearly an investment area. We're very bullish," McAnally said. "We think touch definitely has a place and is a natural fit. We continue to evaluate and expand our touch offerings."

McAnally declined to comment specifically on recent reports from Gartner and IDC that painted a less-than-positive picture of PC sales. "We still see, through thousands and thousands of customer conversations on a regular basis, strong demand for both tablets as well as PCs," McAnally said. "There are general preferences depending on usage models and how things are being used, but there's clearly demand for both."

That's likely to spill over into operating systems, where Windows 7 and Windows 8 will coexist just like previous versions have. Windows XP, after all, retains a significant market share as it approaches its end-of-support date.

"It's a combined play between those two for the foreseeable future," McAnally said.

Mobile technology is changing the way we live, work and play. Attend Mobile Commerce World , June 24-26 in San Francisco, to learn how to develop and deploy your company’s mobile commerce strategy. Spend three days learning from key players at Walmart, Amazon, Zappos, 1-800-FLOWERS, Advance Auto Parts, Alex and Ani, Groupon, REI, Vegas.com and more who are harnessing the power of mobile commerce. Register with code MP_BTMEDIWKAXE and save $200 on an All Access pass.

No touch IMPROVES productivity? On what planet? Sometimes it is more natural to touch, some to point, and other times to type. But the insanity of touch being non-work-oriented and encouraging play is stupid.

The Dell Product Line Manager has to support his ignorant decision to not put even a resistive touch screen for $25 in his device -- when he thinks it is OK for $100 Windows 7.

Just because the server market's in the doldrums doesn't mean innovation has ceased. Far from it -- server technology is enjoying the biggest renaissance since the dawn of x86 systems. But the primary driver is now service providers, not enterprises.